Linguist
Salary

For Linguists, yearly average wages total $68K annually. Geographic location is the biggest factor affecting pay for this group, followed by experience level. Although one-fifth lack health benefits of any kind, a strong majority do enjoy medical insurance, and a fair number get dental coverage, too. Male Linguists are more prevalent than women among those who took the survey — 60 percent of professionals. Job satisfaction is high and work is enjoyable for most Linguists. The data for this snapshot was collected from individuals who took PayScale's salary survey.

XTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

XTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

Job Description for Linguist

A linguist is someone who works with languages. This job will vary depending on which industry they work in. The job will generally have them working as translators, interpreting, and doing forensic sciences. Generally, linguists are required in law enforcement and the military. They have an important role of helping these agencies in investigating and preventing various crimes. If they work with the CIA or FBI, they will also assist in securing national security. The linguist will generally work on their own or in a team, depending on the industry that they are employed in. There is a lot of freedom on the job, and they often set the working tone themselves. If working as part of the team, they will interact with various other linguists.

The educational background for a linguist job will require them to have a bachelor’s degree, as well as knowing at least two languages. Depending on the industry or company that they are working for, there might be language proficiency tests that may need to be done, as well as other minor checks. What is important is that the individual is fluent in the language that they are applying for and should be able to read and speak it with ease.

A typical job for the linguist will vary, depending on what industry they are working in. One can generally expect that linguists in an office will work a typical 9-5. For those who are needed in different industries such as the military or the federal government, the linguist might be in the field at various hours as needed.

Linguist Job Listings

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This chart shows the most popular skills for this job and what effect each skill has on pay.

Survey results suggest that Linguists use a fairly large toolkit of professional skills. Most notably, facility with Pashto Language and Farsi Language are correlated to pay that is significantly above average, leading to increases of 34 percent and 34 percent, respectively. Skills that seem to negatively impact pay include Localization and Translation and Data Analysis.

Pay by Experience Level for Linguist

Median of all compensation (including tips, bonus, and overtime) by years of experience.

Survey participants with less than five years' experience pocket $59K on average, but those with five to 10 years of experience enjoy a much bigger median of $81K. Linguists claiming one to two decades of experience make an estimated median of $82K. Folks who claim more than 20 years of relevant experience actually report a comparatively lower median income of $79K.

Pay Difference by Location

For Linguists, Reston provides a pay rate that is 34 percent greater than the national average. Linguists will also find cushy salaries in Los Angeles (+31 percent) and Washington (+31 percent). In Augusta, salaries are 15 percent below the national average and represent the lowest-paying market.